Wide Spread of Dish-Honesty in North Central Florida

The picture is growing clear for some residents who thought they were getting satellite tv service... but all they are getting is static.

It appears to be a widespread scam perpetrated by a man people knew-- and trusted.

TV20's Alex de Armas shows us how people fell victim.

For several days we've been investigating this story in which several residents in North Central Florida are victims of one man's alleged fraud.

I spoke to a few victims and they told me they couldn't believe this would happen to them.

"He installed my dish to begin with so I didn't think anything of it…I thought 'this is the dish man," said Jim Welter, an Alachua County resident.

But Anthony Gerhold is instead being called a scammer.

"He put a brand new dish for me and then he came inside and gave me a brand new receiver, the whole works," said Welter. "But then I find out it's probably all stolen."

Jim Welter filed one of the seven reports in Alachua County profiling this man as a misrepresented installer of satellites within the past year.

"This is not something that is really common," said Art Forgey, Public Information Officer for the Alachua County Sheriff's Office. "We don't see a lot of this, however this one seems to be fairly wide spread."

Welter is retired from the Department of Corrections and says he knows a liar when he sees one…but Gerhold sure fooled him.

Welter thought he was getting 25% off his yearly Dish Network bill when he paid Gerhold $525 for what he said was a promotion…but instead, Welter lost his money and got a dish that kept losing its service due to non payment.

"Finally about a month ago, it got shut off twice in ten days," Welter said.

Welter paid Gerhold, with the understanding that the payment would also cover his Dish bill.

But when Welter received emails from Dish stating he hadn't paid his bill, he knew Gerhold had scammed him.

A victim in Gilchrist County and another in Alachua County also told us similar stories.

It wasn't until Welter contacted Dish Network that he learned this man had a reputation and a criminal history.

"He's been scamming people all over the place,"

He has four warrants in Alachua County and at least one more in another county.

Gerhold refused to speak to us on camera but told us that as an independent contractor he can fix his clients' Dish, put a tv on the wall...but he's not a Dish employee.

He says he does not have any direct relation with Dish Networks...something he says his clients misinterpret.

He claims he conducted all his business with his sole proprietor company called Digital Home Solution.

He says the sticker with the Dish logo he puts behind remote controls is simply to let his customers know they can call him to repair their Dish.

He has the same dish logo on his receipts.

"If you are looking for this type of service, contact the service directly and let them set up the installation with one of their vendors," Forgey said. "Someone that pulls up saying something that's too good to be true, it probably is."

"No one around Gainesville seems to know what's going on and I just think people need to be aware of this guy because he is just driving around scamming people," said Welter.

Anthony Gerhold is currently wanted in Alachua County.

If you are a victim of Gerhold or have any details that can help the current investigation, please contact the Alachua Country Sheriff's Office at 352-955-1818.